When rumors of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL not having a 3.5mm headphone port surfaced, many people discarded the information and held onto their hopes. As it turns out, Google confirmed that neither of the two new smartphones have this headphone port and it has resurfaced a heated debate within the Android community. In response, Google has slashed the price of its USB-C Digital to 3.5 mm headphone adapter from $20 down to just $9.

Apple made headlines when they claimed the company had the courage to remove the 3.5mm headphone port from the iPhone last year. They said it was done so they could fit room for an improved taptic engine, which incidentally did receive a lot of praise for improving upon the older taptic engine. When Google released their first generation Pixel phones, they actually used this piece of information in their marketing material to advertise the device.

Now we're here one year later and Google has followed suit and removed the 3.5mm headphone port from both the Pixel 2 as well as the Pixel 2 XL. Just like with the iOS community, this has sparked a lot of complaints with many saying they won't buy the phone at all since it doesn't have the port. Others don't mind the dongle solution and there's an official accessory in the Google Store for those who want to use their USB Type-C port for their 3.5mm headphones.

However, the price for this dongle has been $20 since it was introduced in the Google Store. This is actually the same price that Apple had recently been charging for theirs until they dropped it to $9 almost one full year ago. The new price reduction was only supposed to be temporary, but looking at the Apple Store right now shows that its Lightning to 3.5 mm headphone dongle still carries the $9 price tag with its 1.5-star rating from customer reviews.

Google doesn't have reviews for their products in the Google Store right now but they too just discounted the $20 USB-C Digital to 3.5 mm headphone adapter down to $9. While the Google Store ToS page does say they honor price reductions for 15 days for their "devices," it's unclear if this dongle accessory is included in that rule. So if you purchased one of these within the last 15 days then you should definitely send an email to the support staff for the Google Store and see if you qualify.


Via: /u/captainpacifist

Source: Google Store